Academic year 2015-16

Radio Communications

Degree:	Code:	Type:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science	22630	Optional subject
Bachelor's Degree in Telematics Engineering	21752	Optional subject
Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Systems Engineering	22663	Optional subject

 

ECTS credits:

4

Workload:

100 hours

Trimester:

1st

 

Department:	Dept. of Information and Communication Technologies
Coordinator:	Rafael Pous
Teaching staff:	Rafael Pous Raúl Parada
Language:	English
Timetable:
Building:	Communication campus - Poblenou

 

Introduction

Radio-communications is a basic course on antennas and propagation, with a clear practical and hands-on orientation. The students will learn:

• Antenna parameters
• Power calculations in a radio link
• Basic antenna types (wire, patch, aperture, reflectors)
• Principles of antenna parameter measurements

This subject does not have the intention of being a comprehensive course on antennas and propagation. Several important topics are left out (radiation integrals, numerical methods, etc.), but the fundamental principles will be covered, and the student will gain a basic understanding of the main topics relevant to antenna characterization, design and measurements. This basic understanding will be enough for those students interested in the subject to use some of the very good textbooks available to dig deeper in his or her particular areas of interest.

 

Prerequisites

A good command of high-school level mathematics and physics is required. In particular, the following concepts must have been mastered before this course:

• Complex numbers
• Functions and their graphical representation
• Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems
• Basic differentiation and integration of functions in 1 and 2 variables
• Waves, propagation, and reflection
• Phasor notation
• Basic electromagnetic theory

In particular, the student must have assimilated the 1st year required course on Waves and Electromagnetism.

 

Associated competences

Transferable skills:

• Ability to work in groups
• Ability to write technical documents
• Creativity applied to engineering design
• Capacity to research solutions in technical literature

Specific competences:

• Spatial reasoning
• Basic skills in the electronics lab
• Metrology applied to radiocommunications

 

Assessment

There will be a single evaluation itinerary for this subject based on:

• Laboratory (50%): there will be three lab projects. The lab projects will be done in groups of two students, and there will be a single qualification for both group members (only in exceptional circumstances will this principle be changed). Each lab project may consist of one or more deliverables (e. g. preliminary study and final report). All assignments will be turned in in PDF format and through the Aula Global e-learning platform. No assignments will be accepted in other formats, through other channels, or delivered after the deadline. An assignment not delivered, delivered not according to the above requirements, or delivered late, will be graded with a 0/10. Attendance to the laboratory sessions is a strict requirement. More than two unjustified missed laboratory sessions will be a cause for a 0/10 laboratory grade. A minimum average laboratory grade of 5/10 is required to pass the course. A laboratory grade lower than 5/10 will mean that the student will have to take the class all over again, since laboratories cannot be passed in the July examination.
• Final exam (40%): a final exam, covering the topics taught in the classroom and laboratory sessions will be scheduled during the official exam period of the University. A minimum of 5/10 in the final exam is required to pass the course. A grade lower than 5/10 will mean that the student will have to take the July exam (given that the laboratory grade is 5/10 or higher).
• Class participation (10%): a grade given by the course teachers, evaluating the degree of participation and involvement of the student in the the classroom and laboratory sessions. Asking questions, answering the questions posed by the teachers, attending the conferences by invited speakers, and a general positive attitude will all count towards this evaluation criteria. No minimum grade is required for class participation.

 

Contents

Content blocks

The subject is organized around 6 content blocks, each content block being discussed in one 2-hour classroom session:

Content block 1.- Antenna parameters. Antenna radiation pattern.

• Antenna input impedance
• Antenna bandwidth
• Antenna radiation efficiency
• Antenna directivity, effective aperture, and gain
• Antenna radiatAAion pattern, beam-width, F/B ratio, and side-lobe level
• Antenna polarization

Content block 2. - Link power calculations. Antenna temperature and SNR.

• Antenna as a transmitter, as a receiver, and reciprocity
• Link power calculations and the Friis transmission equation
• Antenna temperature and noise calculations
• SNR calculation

Content block 3. - Linear wire and loop antennas.

• Infinitesimal dipole
• Small dipole, resonant dipole, and monopole
• Small loop, resonant loop
• Yagi-Uda antennas

Content block 4. - Antenna arrays.

• Two-element and N-element arrays
• Array factor and visible margin
• Non-uniform amplitude arrays
• Non-uniform phase arrays and phased arrays

Content block 5. - Aperture and patch antennas

• Infinitesimal aperture
• Rectangular aperture
• Horns
• Patch antennas

Content block 6. - Reflector antennas and antenna measurements

• Parabolic reflectors
• F/D ratio, illumination efficiency and spillover
• Off-set and Cassegrain reflectors
• Antenna measurement principles

 

Methodology

The course on Radio-communications will be based on a hand-on methodology that will keep classroom sessions to a minimum, and will base most of the learning activities on laboratory work, following the “learning by doing” principle.

Classroom sessions

There will be a reduced number of classroom session, in which only the most fundamental topics will be covered, leaving the details for the laboratory sessions. Classroom sessions will be two-hour long. There will be only 7 classroom session, one as an introduction, and one dedicated to each of the 6 content blocks.

For each classroom sessions, reading from the course textbook will be recommended. It is important to have read this material before the class. During the classroom sessions the teacher will pose questions relative to the recommended readings, and problems will be solved. Attendance and active participation by the students is expected, and will be evaluated.

Laboratory sessions

The laboratory sessions will be used to complete the three laboratory assignments. Laboratory sessions will be two-hour long. There will be 9 laboratory sessions, in which the professor will be present. The laboratory session will be organized in smaller groups, to be able to have a higher degree of interaction between the professor and the students. The students are welcome to use the lab in the sessions for which a different group is scheduled, in an “open lab” mode, during which the professor will give priority to the students of the groups scheduled for that session.

During the laboratory sessions there will be work on software simulation, building antenna prototypes, measuring these prototypes, and building simple communication links with them.

During the laboratory sessions the teacher will pose questions to the students. Active participation by the students is expected, and will be evaluated. Attendance is not only expected, but required, and more than two unjustified missed laboratory session will entail failing the course, even in July, and having to take it all over again the following year.

Invited speakers and visits

During the course one or two speakers, chosen among prominent professionals in the field, will be invited to give a presentation to the class. Attendance and active participation by the students are mandatory, and will be evaluated.

Additionally, one visit may be organized to a company or site relevant for the course. Given that a maximum number of visitors is usually imposed, only those student with a higher grade will be allowed to participate. Attendance to this visit will be optional, and it will not be evaluated.

Office hours

The teachers will publish the office hours during which the students will be able to resolve questions or difficulties encountered during the course.

 

Resources

The following textbook will be considered the basic bibliographic reference for the course, from which readings will be recommended for each of the classroom sessions:

• Balanis, C., “Antenna theory: analysis and design”, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.

An additional textbook, with very similar content, that can be used as a back-up is the following:

• Cardama, A. et al., “Antenas”, Edicions UPC, 2002.